Insurance
“WellPoint is living proof that Indiana is a great place for business to grow. From our roots providing health coverage within Indiana, we’ve grown to become the nation’s largest health benefits company, serving more than 28 million members coast to coast. Indiana offers a positive business environment and an attractive quality of life for the talented people we need to recruit and retain in order to remain a Fortune 50 company. We would encourage any business that is relocating or expanding its operations to give serious consideration to Indiana.”
Larry C. Glasscock, WellPoint, Inc.
Taxation
Indiana has a low flat premium tax rate of 1.3 percent. Domestic carriers have an option of either paying the premium tax or the corporate flat income tax at 8.5 percent. Surplus lines carriers are taxed at 2.5 percent. Indiana does not impose any additional taxes such as surplus income or single business taxes on the insurance industry.
Ernst & Young released a study conducted for the Council on State Taxation (COST) noting Indiana ranked 7th lowest for businesses share of all state taxes and 3rd lowest for state and local business taxes per employee.
Indiana has low, single individual income tax rate of 3.4 percent.
“Indiana’s progressive change to the premium tax rate made our decision to relocate our state of domicile relatively simple. The lower rate (1.3%) coupled with the option an Indiana domestic has of choosing to rather be taxed at Indiana’s normal corporate rate provides a flexibility unmatched in any other state.”
William Carmichael, American Surety Company
Regulation
The Indiana Department of Insurance has taken great pains to improve the efficiency in which products are approved in the state. Commissioner of Insurance, Jim Atterholt, believes in accessibility and responsiveness for the industry and consumers. With over 200 domestic carriers (and counting), the efficient and consistent regulatory approach is another reason many carriers are looking to Indiana.
“(Commissioner of Insurance) Jim (Atterholt) and the governor both made it clear what their direction is for the department and what they hope to achieve,” said Marjorie Maginn, vice president of industry and political affairs for Anthem. “Certainly, helping the insurance industry is foremost on their agenda.”
IBJ, June 5, 2005
“From here on out, we’re looking at ways to grow insurance jobs,” Atterholt said. “The Insurance Department is critical to (companies’) success and growth. We have to have a reputation for excellence... if our economic development efforts in the insurance industry are going to be successful.”
IBJ, June 5, 2005
Education/Workforce Quality
Indiana recognizes that the most pressing need the insurance industry faces over the coming decades may be the shortage of human talent. We believe that employers with facilities in Indiana will find a strong existing pool of talent, qualified new hires and a state that is collectively partnering with the industry to address the impending shortage of talented employees in the insurance industry.
By partnering with the domestic industry, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation has created an insurance-specific training program to match company training programs for industry-specific designations and certifications. The INSPIRE program is open to employers with 10 or more Hoosier employees who are investing in the quality of their workforce. For more information on the INSPIRE program, please go to the following link.
Indiana has both Ball State University and Indiana State University offering insurance and risk management degrees. Additionally, Ball State and Purdue University both offer actuarial degrees. Ball State is also one of the few universities in the nation to offer a graduate actuarial degree. More than 300 members of the Society of Actuaries are Ball State University Alumni. Indiana also has a very successful community college in Ivy Tech where tomorrow’s insurance employees can study insurance and where Indiana employers can find training courses for current Indiana employees at one of 23 campuses across the state.
Ball State is also one of five schools in the U.S. to receive a grant to host an Insurance Education Institute (also based in Indiana) program to educate high school teachers about insurance. Indiana State University is the only school in the nation to allow students to achieve a Bachelor's degree in Risk Management and Insurance through distance learning. Ivy Tech Community College now offers several new insurance courses for their students considering careers in insurance.
Each of these educational institutions are partnering with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and Indiana’s domestic industry to provide students with the skills needed in the industry to adapt to the ever-changing insurance market.
Ball State University's Insurance Program
Indiana State University's Insurance Program
Indiana State University's Gongaware Center
Ivy Tech Community College
Purdue University Actuarial Program
Judicial/Legislative
Indiana's legal system was ranked 6th most fair by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The Personal Responsibility Act that has been in place for ten years caps punitive damages at three times compensatory or $50,000, whichever is less. It also directs 75 percent of punitive damages to the Indiana Victim's Compensation Fund, not the plaintiff. Juries are not informed of any caps. Strict liability applies only to manufacturing defects, not design and failure to warn.
The 2007 session of the Indiana General Assembly built on the steps taken in 2006 to make Indiana great place for the insurance industry. Through unanimous support, the General Assembly passed several important items of note to the insurance industry:
- Commercial lines form deregulation. Continuing on commercial rate deregulation in the 2006 session, commercial lines carriers in Indiana now file rates and forms for informational purposes only within 30 days of use.
- Increased funding for the Department of Insurance to allow hiring of approximately 10-12 additional staffers to assist consumer protection and company services divisions.
- Scholarships for insurance students at Indiana post-secondary institutions funded, primarily by producer/agencies opting for a framed license.
- Indiana is the first state to pass the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) model health forms filing model act.
- Repeal of the bonding requirements for resident surplus lines producers
- NAIC alien insurer port of entry model act.
In a bipartisan manner, the legislature also agreed to a 44¢ cigarette tax increase to fund the Governor’s health plan for uninsured Hoosiers. The legislation included numerous provisions to help employers set up insurance programs for employees while providing many lower-income Hoosiers with individual health coverage in the traditional market.
“Indiana has a legislature that remains close to its constituents and addresses their needs, including the business community and a regulator that is successful at the important task of protecting consumers, without undue interference upon businesses.”
Dan Stone, Indiana Farmers Mutual Insurance Co.
For more information on expanding or relocating your insurance operations in Indiana, please contact:
Mike Chrysler
Director of Insurance Initiatives
office: 317.234.2084
cell: 317.694.7774
fax: 317.233.9851
email: mchrysler@iedc.in.gov
Resources
Indiana Insurance Business Costs
“We have long viewed Indiana as a natural business and labor environment … because of its national footprint in the insurance industry and the many exceptional academic insurance programs offered by Indiana’s colleges and universities.”
- Lee R. Howard, BHC Marketing’s, president and chief executive, BHC Marketing
Indiana Economic Development Corporation
One North Capitol, Suite 700 • Indianapolis, Indiana 46204 • Tel 317.232.8800 • 800.463.8081 • Fax 317.232.4146
